1. Filed of Invention
The present invention relates to a worm drive clamp and wherein a flexible biasing means is provided within the clamp housing to permit a free end portion of the band to slide through the housing without threaded engagement with a worm screw provided in the housing and wherein the free end portion of the band becomes automatically engaged with the worm screw once a resulting clamping pressure is achieved by the band about a object to which it is being secured.
2. Description of Prior Art
Various worm clamps are known for tightening a metal band about an object, such as a hose, pipe, joint, or any other suitable objects. Such worm drive clamps have various applications in all types of industries and are utilized for clamping or attaching various objects. A conventional type of such clamps, is, for example, described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,087,220. However, with such clamp or various similar clamps, as soon as the free end portion of the metal band is inserted into the housing it becomes immediately into contact with the worm screw thread and it is necessary to rotate the worm screw to engage the free end of the metal band and advance it through the housing to effect a tightening action of the band by diminishing the circumferential length of the loop formed thereby. A disadvantage with such clamps, is that it is sometimes difficult to insert the free end of the metal band within the housing for threaded engagement with the worm screw. Furthermore, in order to advance the band to a tightening position, it is often required to make many turns of the worm screw. Also, it is difficult to maintain the housing of the worm screw in a fixed position about an object being clamped as the housing is displaced by the rotational engagement of the threaded screw on the band. These threading operations are also time consuming. It is also time consuming to remove a clamp already engaged as the worm screw must be rotated counter-clock wise the entire length of the secured free end portion of the band. A still further, disadvantage is that often the free end portion of the band is not positioned in full engagement with the threads of the bolt and only the tip of the threads engage with the engaging slots in the band and this often causes the band to disconnect after the band experiences axial tension thereby causing the threads or the slits to strip. This results in the destruction of the clamp.